NRL conspiracy theories erupt as Phil Gould, Paul Gallen called out over ‘doctored’ claim

The NRL Grand Final’s controversial no try scandal has taken a wild turn despite the game releasing the angle the decision was based on.

A poor choice of words from Channel 9 commentators Phil Gould and Paul Gallen has ignited NRL Grand Final conspiracy theories after a controversial try in the Panthers’ 14-6 won over Melbourne.

After an early try to Storm captain Harry Grant, the Panthers had swung the momentum by halftime to take a 10-6 lead.

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But in the 49th minute and no change to the score, Storm centre Jack Howarth barged over the line.

On-field referee Ashley Klein wasn’t sure but sent the decision up as a “no try”.

This is where the incident blew up as the Bunker official Grant Atkins upheld the decision.

Even in the commentary booth it was mixed as Andrew Johns said: “The ball hits the ground. I’m sure the ball gets down. Watch, now. It’s down. It hits the ground.”

Former NSW Origin coach Brad Fittler disagreed, saying: “When you go into the bunker there is 23 camera angles. Whoever is sitting there at the moment, which is Grant Atkins, he would have every view.

“From the one I saw his hand was underneath the ball.”

And social media sleuths began tearing the decision apart, sharing video of footage of one angle that was broadcast that appeared to show the ball scraping the ground before the Panthers defenders got under the ball.

It sparked heated outrage from fans with allegations ranging from the result being fixed, fans calling the game “a joke” and others believing it was an “absolutely appalling decision from the Bunker”.

However, others hit back at the critics calling out the commentators for not being able to “tell the difference between an arm and a ball.”

In a move that didn’t help but to fuel the conspiracy theories, reporters were shown an angle at full-time that hadn’t been broadcast on TV that clearly showed an arm holding the ball up.

But Gould and Gallen poked the bear post-game with some careless comments.

Asked about the decision, Gallen said: “Well, from what I saw here at the ground, I didn’t see it touch the ground, no.

“I thought they made the right decision. I know there are things floating around on social media at the moment that is pretty clear it shows the ball probably hitting the ground.

“What I saw on social media and what I saw there isn’t the same. I didn’t see the ball hit the ground.”

Storm legend Cameron Smith quipped: “Bit of photoshopping you reckon, Gal?”

Gallen replied: “I think so. I mean, honestly, did you see the ball hit the ground then?”

Host James Bracey suggested he thought it “looked like it” had been grounded.

“You reckon it looked like it in that one?” Gallen said.

“I don’t think it hit the ground. What I’ve seen on social media wasn’t that.

“So, I don’t know how they’ve done it, but in my opinion, I didn’t see it hit the ground.”

Jack Howarth appears to ground the ball over the line. Photo: Channel 9

However, the NRL showed there was an arm under the ball.

Gould then chipped in saying: “I think if the referee ruled ‘try’, they wouldn’t have overruled that.

“He (Klein) couldn’t have seen it from his vantage point, and then the Bunker really doesn’t have clear vision to overrule it, or clear enough vision to overrule it.

“Now, there are a lot of doctored photos on social media trying to say that it did get to the ground, but I guess we’ll have to leave it up to the referee.”

Fans couldn’t believe what they were hearing.

“Phil Gould and Paul Gallen just claimed this was doctored,” one fan tweeted.

News Corp’s Tim Michell posted: “How can you argue that is not a try?”

Another fan replied: “What is worse now is blokes like Gould and Gallen are justifying it — the standard of commentary and bias is sickening.”

Another suggested: “They’ve gone full Trump.”

Gould and Gallen were on the post-game panel. Photo: Channel 9

While the fans were clearly divided, the vision that the NRL shared after the game still didn’t convince everyone.

Speaking after the game, the NRL’s head of football Graham Annesley attempted to clear the air after releasing the angle which showed the ball on the arm, claiming the other angle was an optical illusion.

“When I saw it live, I was saying what everyone else was saying – I thought I saw the ball on the ground,” Annesley said via NewsWire.

“It’s only when we go back and look at it clearly that you can see the different colour between the arm and the ball.

“The ball is sitting on top of the arm, which then gets lifted up.

“They (the bunker officials) are looking at this over and over again before they announce their decision while we generally have one replay.

“We don’t have time to clinically examine it like this but the bottom line is that the decision was correct.”

Fans were also expecting Storm coach Craig Bellamy to explode in the press conference, but veteran mentor took the decision on the chin.

“It is what it is,” he said.

“It went up to the Bunker and came down as a no try. It doesn’t matter what I think.

“That’s not in my control. We are always preaching to control what we can control, and that’s not in our control.”

However, despite all of this, some fans were still not convinced, some even claiming the NRL could have doctored the image to justify their decision.

One thing is for sure — this debate is set to rage for a long time to come.

Originally published as NRL conspiracy theories erupt as Phil Gould, Paul Gallen called out over ‘doctored’ claim